After breaking the news this morning of Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington’s suicide, TMZ followed that up with more details about why his death was so disconcerting for his bandmates. Aside from the relative unexpectedness of anyone’s decision to take their own life, Bennington and Linkin Park were slated to go to a band photo shoot this afternoon. One of his bandmates arrived at the singer’s house shortly after the police, to pick up Chester and bring him to the shoot in Hollywood.
Bennington and his wife had been spending time in Arizona, but he arrived back home on Wednesday. His body was found around 9 AM this morning by a housekeeper, which suggests that he hung himself in his bedroom either last night or early this morning. Following up the release of their latest No. 1 album on the Billboard charts, One More Light, the band was one week away from embarking on tour, another factor that made his death shocking for bandmates.
Today is what would’ve been Chris Cornell’s 53rd birthday, and given the extremely close relationship between the two men — Bennington even sang at Cornell’s funeral — it seems dealing with the loss of his friend might’ve been part of what prompted this decision.
Read our obituary of the beloved frontman, and about his profound connection to the hip-hop world.
